


Written words

by pinkpoedi



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, F/M, Family Drama, Friendship/Love, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-07 10:27:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 5,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15217157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkpoedi/pseuds/pinkpoedi
Summary: Alternate version of the episode „hunters“; the letter Kathryn Janeway receives from Mark has an additional message in this story.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bedelia27](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bedelia27/gifts).



> For you girl! Thank for being the Yin to my Yang!

Kathryn Janeway sat in her ready room with eyes closed. She clasped the padd to her breasts. How long had she been sitting there? Seconds? Minutes? She couldn’t recall. Time seemed to stand still. The moment she had gotten the padd, she had been filled with pure joy. Just reading the name of the addresser had made her heart do a flip. MARK. A letter from her fiancé.  
Now she sat there …anxious…not knowing what to expect…. on the one hand it was an incredible gift receiving that letter by Mark and she was filled with pure joy … but on the other hand it had a kind of finality in it… it was a letter, it wasn’t a subspace conversation or anything like that. It was a one-way conversation, something she wasn’t used to. Was that how it had been hundreds of years ago, when people wrote letters to their beloved ones in another city, another state, another country, on another continent, not knowing if they would ever receive it and if there would ever be an answer?  
So, what would one write in those letters? Did asking question even make sense? By the time the answer came one might have already forgotten the initial question… Did you just write about good things, make the other one feel good, spare them with bad news because there might no one be there to comfort them?  
Kathryn massaged her temple. ‘Just read it. The content won’t change with you reading or not reading it.’ She tried Vulcan logic on herself. She took a deep breath and turned, flipped the padd and began reading.  
It began with Mark telling her about the puppies her dog had had and what had become of them. She could literally hear Marks voice telling her that. Then his tone changed. He told her how miserable he had been after her disappearance. How long he had kept hoping. But finally, he had met someone and he was happy now. Kathryn closed her eyes. Mark was married now. She wasn’t engaged anymore. That changed everything. Or did it really? Had she really felt like still being engaged to Mark for the last four years? Part of her definitely. But just the other day she had realized that it had been a long time since he was the last thing she thought about when going to sleep.  
She looked at the padd again. There were no parting words. She scrolled down, there was another passage. With every line she reads the color drains from her face. She moves her hand to her mouth, stifling the gasping sound emerging from her throat. Still, what escapes sounds like a wounded animal. Kathryn is sinking to her knees. On hand still clasping the padd, the other covering her mouth and nose. Her gaze is directed to the ceiling, frantically searching for something. Her breath comes in gulps, the veins on her forehead and throat visible from all the adrenaline pumping through them, deafening her ears. The only sound she can register is her own heartbeat that drums through her whole body. Her eyes start to water. She moves her hand from her face and lifts it into the air, desperately grasping for something invisible above her.


	2. Chapter 2

Chakotay looked up from the middle console at his post when the doors to the Captain’s ready room swished open. He was just about to ask her about the letter she had gotten and from the amount of time she had spent in there if it contained good news but then he saw her emerging through the door.  
Or more likely he saw the person that used to be Captain Janeway but was now just a shadow of herself. If a person could ever look broken, she did. Kathryn didn’t even glimpse at anyone on the bridge. She headed straight from her ready room to the turbolift. Just when she reached the upper deck, Chakotay got up and headed her direction. Without saying a word, he motioned Tuvok that he would follow her and headed command of the bridge over to the chief of security. He squeezed into the turbolift after her just when it was about to close. She stood only a few centimeters away from him. Her shoulders sagged, one hand reached out to steady herself against the wall. With a low voice he said her name. Startled, she spun around, looking at him with eyes wide open. She had definitely been crying. Obviously, she hadn’t registered him entering the turbolift. Chakotay couldn’t bare looking at her like this, so he crossed that unspoken barrier between them and opened his arms. She just looked at him for the longest seconds but then to his surprise she flung herself to him, holding onto him like a person drowning. He felt her shuddering and trembling so he held her tight, burying his nose in her hair.  
The doors opened on their quartier’s deck. Chakotay was grateful no crewmembers crossed their way when he escorted Kathryn to her doors, her leaning onto him, her arm around his middle. He used his security code to gain access to quartiers. Without calling for lights he guided her to her bedroom and sat her on the bed. First, he removed her shoes gestured her to lay on the bed, then removed his own. Crawling into bed with her he hugged her from behind and just held her, resting his head on the curve of her neck. In a soothing rhythm he moved his hands along her arms until her trembling and shaking subdued, bringing back memories of holding her through a plasma storm on new earth.


	3. Chapter 3

Kathryn woke from the worst nightmare in ages. She tried to move but something was blocking her. Then it all came rushing back. The letter from Mark. Her meltdown in the ready room. Chakotay bringing her here. Chakotay! She felt his warmth behind her, his smell lingering in the air, the comfort he gave her by just holding her. He must have registered her change of breathing. She more felt than heard his voice next to her ear “Kathryn, please, talk to me. I need you to tell me what’s going on!”  
She didn’t move, just took a deep breath. She was grateful he didn’t ask her to turn around. Not looking into his eyes made it easier. So, she started to tell him about the letter. About the news that Mark had finally lost hope, then remarried and was happy. She told Chakotay that she was honestly and truly happy for Mark. Chakotay moved even closer, held her even tighter, as if he knew something else was coming, something worse. And then she told him.


	4. Chapter 4

“My dearest Kathryn, there is something else I need to tell you. I am so sorry I have to deliver this via a letter. Of all people I might not be the person you want this to hear from, especially after what I’ve just told you. But roles reversed you would be the only person I would have this delivered to me as you are still my best friend. I am so deeply sorry to inform you that your sister Phoebe has died in a shuttle accident a year ago. No one is to blame for it, the mechanics malfunctioned and all passengers died instantly due to a loss of oxygen and inflating of carbon monoxide…”

Chakotay didn’t know what to say or how to respond, so he just closed his eyes and whispered into Kathryn’s ear how sorry he was, before saying anything else Kathryn spoke again. No emotion in her voice, just a slight trembling, her body stiff and her gaze fixed on an imaginary spot at the opposite wall. He could hear years of captain’s training in her voice, when she continued “There is more…That was not all that Mark had to tell me.”

“… I visited your mother as soon as I had heard. She was heartbroken. She didn’t leave her bed and talked to no one. With Phoebe gone she thought she had lost all of her family…If only Starfleet had known about Voyager by that time… At the funeral, after giving the last honor to Phoebe she was buried at the same site as your father. Your name had been added there too as lost in field. Seeing these three names must have been too much for your mother. The medics had to sedate her. I went with her to the hospital. She woke up the next day. All life had vanished from her eyes, I was so shocked to see it. I think Gretchen had already given up and left her body at that time. Later, the doctor, who was kind enough to treat me as a family member, told me it was a kind of broken heart syndrome. It was just too much. Oh, Kathy if only I could hold you right now and tell you how deeply sorry I am for you. I hope with all my heart that there is someone being there for you right now. Someone you can lean on to. Please don’t seal yourself from others, I am terrified you might not get out of there alone, I know you too well.  
Please, Kathy!  
I am so sorry, words can’t say how deeply.

Mark”


	5. Chapter 5

Silence fell over the room like a thick layer of snow, creeping into every pore, leaving a deafening coldness behind. Two figures lying still in an embrace in bed like made out of marmot. Their breathing seemed to turn louder and louder being the only source of sound in the room. 

Chakotay moved his head, his cheek sliding along Kathryn’s shoulder to her neck. He pressed his lips to her neck, kissing it lightly and whispered “What can I do?” so softly his warm breath made her shudder a bit. She didn’t answer for what felt like eternity, so that Chakotay was about to assume she hadn’t heard him, when he heard her whisper “Just …hold me…please.”   
He gripped her tighter and moved his thumbs in soothing circles. Chakotay lay there like a human blanket, covering as much of Kathryn as he was able to. He could feel her torso expanding and contracting with every hiccupping breath she took. He whispered in his native tongue into her neck and felt her relax after a while. 

After hours he felt her muscles relax completely and her breath changing telling him she had finally fallen asleep. Chakotay moved slowly and loosened his grip on Kathryn. She stirred immediately, so he kissed her neck and cheek and murmured to be right back.  
Every muscle in his body hurt and every bone cracked when Chakotay got up from the bed and he had to suppress a groan. He stretched his arms and shoulders and went to Kathryn’s living area. He informed first Tuvok about the situation and had all communication redirected to the Vulcan until further notice and asked not to be disturbed except in case of an emergency.   
After considering his next move for a while he also contacted the doctor and informed him about the Captain’s condition as he didn’t see her fit for duty. The doctor immediately affirmed his decision and told him that his reaction so far had been a good call. He sent a mild sedative to the Captain’s replicator in case her behavior changed after her nap and Chakotay weren’t able to calm her, assuring Chakotay to check up on the Captain the next day.   
Taking a deep breath Chakotay stared out of the window and rubbed his face. He moved slowly to the replicator, lost in his own thoughts and asked for a glass of water, taking it, he went back to the bedroom. He stopped in the doorframe and looked at the figure on the bed. His usually fierce and strong Captain looked like a fragile shadow of herself, sorrow lines even in sleep visible on her face. He walked to her side of the bed, put down the glass on the counter and touched her hair like he would do with a child.   
Moving to the other side again he placed his commbadge on the counter, took of his uniform jacket and turtleneck and folded it on a nearby chair. He kneeled on the bed in his trousers and t-shirt contemplating for a second while looking at Kathryn. Finally, he decided as her best friend his next move was not out of line. So, he removed Kathryn’s commbadge and put it next to his own. Trying not to wake her up he moved her onto her back and sides to remove her jacket and turtleneck as well. Then slipped onto the bed next to her again, being disturbed by all the movements Kathryn shifted and absently opened her eyes. Chakotay wasn’t sure if she was really awake or still asleep but she snuggled to his side and put her head to rest on his shoulder and her hand on his heart in her familiar gesture.   
Chakotay had to smile at that and immediately felt guilty for how happy this made him.  
He put his arms around her and kissed her lightly on her forehead.


	6. Stage 1: denial and isolation

When Chakotay awoke the next morning, he was confused. His joints hurt and the surroundings felt unfamiliar. He looked to his left and saw his commbadge on his nightstand next to a book he didn’t know and padds he didn’t remember belonging there. He sat up and suddenly realized it wasn’t the padds and book that didn’t belong there, it was him that was out of place. These weren’t his quartiers! He looked at the empty space in the bed next to him. Where was Kathryn? He got up and checked the living area. Then he stood in front of the bathroom, first listened for sounds than peeked inside. Nothing. Just when he was getting really worried, he realized he was on voyager, with a computer knowing the answer. “Computer, locate Captain Janeway.” “Captain Janeway is in her ready room.” Came the response. With a confused look he put on his clothes and commbadge and headed for the bridge.

Tuvok gave him an acknowledging look when he entered the bridge and nodded without a word to the doors of the captain’s ready room. The doors opened immediately and his face must have shown all his confusion when he saw Kathryn sitting behind her desk, surrounded by empty coffee mugs and towers of padds. Which wasn’t an especially unusual picture, but it was the look on his friend’s face that made him stop midstride. The usually sparkling eyes were numb and darkish circles were beneath them. Her face was some shades whiter and greyer than its usual color, with even the freckles on her cheeks gone, that he loved studying when she wasn’t watching.   
Finally, she looked up at him and asked with a voice not belonging to her “Commander, what can I do for you?”. Chakotay stepped forward, sat across from her on the chair and looked into her eyes “Kathryn, what are you doing here? Why are you working? You should be in your quartiers and resting …and… grieving.”  
Janeway gave him a short look, sorted some padds and answered while looking at her computer screen. “Thank you, Commander, for your consideration” (pause and taking a breath) “and you being there for me yesterday. But I see no necessity in me taking a day off. There is too much work to do.” Finally, she looked at him, holding up a hand, expecting his next sentence and continued with a voice he knew too well “besides, I see no point in grieving for anything that happened that long ago. And there are enough problems at hand to handle. So, if there is no ship business to attend, you are dismissed, Commander.”  
Chakotay couldn’t believe his eyes and ears, dumbstruck he got up from the chair. Kathryn looked, no she stared, again at the monitor. “Yes, Captain, if you need me, you find me on the bridge.” When turning he saw her short nod and then left the ready room.   
On the bridge silent sympathetic looks from Paris and Kim greeted him and he acknowledged them with a short nod, before taking his post. 

 

Chakotay was still on the bridge two hours after his shift had ended, but there was no sign of Kathryn. So, he went back, she dismissed him again like in the morning, unable to give real eye-contact and finding excuses to work. 

That went on for five days. She was already in her ready room when he started his shift and was still there when he left. At one point he wasn’t even sure if she even left the room or just stayed there. He got more and more concerned with every day but she always blocked him out when he asked how she felt and just answered to ship related questions. 

On the sixth day she wasn’t in her ready room. When he turned around he saw Tuvok entering the bridge, telling him that the Captain had informed him, that she would be working from the office in her quartiers and wished not to be disturbed. 

When his shift had ended, Chakotay returned to his quartier’s deck. Approaching his door, he turned around and headed for Kathryn’s door. His finger hovered over the touch field for the bell for countless moments, before he took a deep breath and shook his head. He looked at the closed door in front of him and decided to give her the space she obviously needed. He touched the door with his right hand like invisibly grasping for her, then turned around and entered his own quartiers.  
Exactly the same sequence went on every time he entered or left his quartiers. On the third day when he came back from the bridge he saw something lying at Kathryn’s doorstep. When he moved closer he saw it was a piece of paper, which seemed extremely odd, as no one was still using paper to write on. He kneeled down and cautiously looked at it. It was folded in the middle and he saw colors shining through. When he opened it, a happy laughter escaped his throat. The paper showed a picture, drawn by little Naomi. Two people were on it, one female in red and black with big blue eyes who was obviously Kathryn was standing next to same tall Naomi herself in a dress with a flower print and they were surrounded by stars. He put the picture back down and hoped Kathryn would see it soon.   
Every day when he came back from his shift another picture was lying on the doorstep, added to the last ones. But they were never removed. So, Kathryn most possibly had never left her quartiers.   
On the tenth day Chakotay decided that had been long enough and so he walked in determination to his friend’s door. But the pictures were gone. No one answered the door and when he asked the computer for Kathryn’s whereabouts he headed directly there, afraid of what he might be greeted with.


	7. Stage 2: Anger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally there is some J/C romance coming along

Kathryn was breathing heavily. Sweat was pouring down her forehead, burning in her eyes, blurring her vision. Her clothes stuck to her body, dirty and ripped at some places. Her muscles already ached and her arms began to shake. But she couldn’t stop. So, she went on, pressing harder and harder. The strength came from within, fired by her inner anger. She could feel it burning within her, so mighty, so forceful, so frightening. First, she had been shocked, shocked by her own reaction, by the hate she was able to feel. Still feel, although years had passed, although she had become a master in suppressing these feelings. They were still there…and they all came rushing back now. A scream, more like a cry, escaped her lungs and throat, sounding like a lioness on her hunt. She could feel his blood rushing through its veins, exhilarated by the adrenaline, by the body’s will to live, so survive, it was knocking against her fingers, against her hands, that were circling his throat. She was in control; his life was literally in her hands. It was a powerful feeling, more satisfying than she had ever expected. She took another deep breath, gathering all her remaining strength, readying herself for the final moment, the last squeeze that would end this. Just when she reaching the climax she fell onto the floor. Her hands were grasping nothing but air, her knees and elbows hit the cold metal floor. The surrounding of the empty holodeck appeared in her field of vision. Then she finally heard Chakotay’s angry voice screaming at her. “Kathryn, what the actual fuck!!!” he grasped her by the arms, pulling her up from the floor and pushed her into the wall, hard. His breathing came in gulps just like hers, blowing into her face. “What the fuck were you doing?? Using the holodeck to kill Cardassians?? With the safety protocol off?!” He was still pushing hard, hurting her. But she didn’t see hate or anger in his eyes, all she saw was fear. She didn’t say anything, just stared at him. “Answer me! Why are you here? Why are you doing this?” 

“I was just so, so angry! So ang” She stared to say but then her voice failed. Tears began to stream down her cheeks and she was jolted by her sobbing. Her head fell forward onto Chakotay’s shoulder. If he hadn’t still be holding her to the wall she would have fallen on the ground. First, Chakotay didn’t know what was going on, her mood had changed so drastically and fast. He changed his grip and pulled her towards him, holding her close. When she didn’t stop sobbing he turned with her in his arms and slipped to the floor, cradling her on his lap. Kathryn clung to him, sobbing into his neck, trying to get her breathing back to normal. After a while Chakotay turned her head and looked into her eyes. “Kathryn, please talk to me. You are scaring me! Please, let me help you! What was that? That wasn’t you!” 

“I ….I was just so angry, Chakotay. So, so angry! I had to do something, anything. So, I went here and my mind went basically blind. It’s not a side of me I wanted you or anyone ever to see.” Her voice had begun to become very faint suddenly, gone was the rage stricken angry woman from a few minutes ago. Her eyes had become soft again, vulnerable even. “But why Cardassians, Kathryn? Why were you killing a Cardassian with your bear hands when I entered the holodeck? That doesn’t make sense.” She couldn’t look into his eyes anymore, these gentle, warm eyes. How could he still look at her like this, when he had just seen this dark side of her, that scared even herself? She stared at her kneaded hands. 

“No Chakotay, please stop. One day I’ll tell you what I’ve been. It will scare you.” 

He gently lifted her chin with his fingers and forced her to look into his eyes again. “Kathryn, nothing about you will ever scare me or make me love you less!” And then he just kissed her. Just like that. It was so sudden and surprising Kathryn didn’t know what was going on for a few heartbeats. But when she did the rage within from a few minutes ago was replaced by a totally different feeling inside her. Kathryn sighed and deepened the kiss, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him even closer. When they parted, gasping for air she saw the love in his eyes, slowly being tarnished by fear. “Well…that was unexpected!” Kathryn tried to lighten the mood. “Are you sorry it happened?” he asked in earnest, letting go of his hold on her. Before he could get up Kathryn held his head between her hands and this time forced him to look at her. “Not for a second!” and took him by surprise by kissing him this time.


	8. Stage 3 and 4: Bargaining and depression

Kathryn was sitting on the sofa in her quarters, snuggled into her favorite blanket and looked at the passing stars. A smile crept into her face when she thought of the surprise the day before had brought. Chakotay loved her … and they had kissed. She touched her lips, she could still feel his lips on them. Giggling, she hugged her legs and snuggled even deeper into her sofa. After the holodeck he had escorted her to quartiers and checking that no crewmember was watching had given her a good night kiss before heading for his own door. 

 

A few minutes later her door chimed. Chakotay entered in a t-shirt and loose pants. Did he look more handsome today than yesterday? Or had she just forbidden herself to really look at him? He kissed her on the mouth immediately putting a smile on her face and settled on the sofa next to her, sliding his arm around her. Kathryn was surprised how natural it felt. There was nothing awkward in the way they behaved, no initial insecurity. But when she was honest to herself they had been more than friends for a long time.  
“How are you feeling?” Chakotay asked in a soft voice. Kathryn intertwined her hand with his and put her head on his shoulder, thinking for a moment before answering. “Sad, guilty, devastated, helpless….but also … happy.” Chakotay put his cheek on her head and smelled her hair. “I understand that you are sad and devastated, it’s absolutely natural. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for you reading that letter. That moment that was supposed to be a wonderful one. Finally getting news from home …just to hear such tragic news. And also, I’m glad you are happy, as I have a feeling I might be partly responsible for that.” She could practically feel his dimples showing when he said that last sentence and it made her laugh out loud. “Oh, you do, don’t you?!” she answered pinching his side and then kissing his hand, eliciting a laugh from Chakotay. He kissed her head and then continued with a more serious voice “But why do you feel guilty Kathryn? There is nothing you could have done, you are not responsible for anything that has happened to Phoebe and your mother!”.   
“I know that I am not responsible for Phoebes accident, but my mother…” she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself before continuing with a shaky voice “Chakotay, my mother died of a broken heart…because she thought she had lost her whole family. And for two of those losses I AM responsible, for my mother losing her husband and myself, her daughter. With that I have killed both my parents and my fiancé.” With the last word her voice failed completely.   
Chakotay stared at her unillumined. And then, for the first time ever, Kathryn told the story of the accident that had killed her father and Justin all those years ago. She told him how devasted she had been, and hadn’t left the bed for weeks afterwards before Phoebe had dragged her out into the cold shower, smiling at the memory.  
Telling Chakotay was hard at first, but with every word it became easier. She knew she could trust Chakotay and he wouldn’t judge her.   
When she had finished, the tears were streaming down her face. She sat at the edge of the sofa and hugged her legs, staring into nothingness. Without a word Chakotay got up, ordered two whiskeys from her replicator and handed her one without saying a word. She stared at the golden liquid and inhaled its spicy flavor. Sipping she let the first drops moisten her palate and tongue before swallowing and enjoying the slight burning sensation down her throat. She turned her face and looked at the man beside her. That was exactly was Chakotay was, the rock that always stood stoically behind or beside her and took care of her, without intervening, always giving her space when she needed it or the rescuing hand when she was in jeopardy of falling. She could tell by his body language that he became insecure by the way she was staring at him, not knowing that she just underwent a tiny epiphany.   
She put her glass on the small table in front of her and kissed him before hugging him and snuggling into his side. “Thank you!” she murmured into his shirt and inhaled his scent deeply. Chakotay kissed her hair and draw lazy circles along her back, making her shiver.   
After a while Chakotay spoke softly “You scared me yesterday, Kathryn. Seeing you like this, so vulnerable, so devasted, so angry and yet so helpless, that scared the crap out of me. Please, promise you’ll never do that again. Come to me first, whenever you feel like this again!” He hugged her tight and whispered into her ear “after all, I am supposed to be the angry warrior of the two of us, remember?” He more felt than heard her laugh slightly.  
Kathryn got up and stretched, stifling a yawn. Chakotay got ready to leave when she reached for his hand and pulled him close, dragging him behind her to her bedroom.


	9. Stage 5: Acceptance

“What have you been up to all day?” Chakotay asked when he poured the wine into their glasses. After finishing his shift on the bridge, he had asked Kathryn if she wanted to join him for dinner and had prepared his famous mushroom lasagna. She took the glass and sat back in her chair, swirling the liquid in the glass. “I spent the day in da Vinci’s workspace and wrote letters.” Chakotay took another spoonful of lasagna into his mouth. “A letter for Mark?” he knew he had no right and no reason to be jealous but he couldn’t help himself. And from her smirk he obviously did a bad job in hiding it. “No, not for Mark. I wrote letters for my mother, my father and my sister. I wrote like they were still alive. I wrote everything that has happened the last years. About my fears and the joy, I experienced, about everything that I would show them when we met again….and how much I missed them every day. I know it’s silly. But somehow, it felt liberating, getting it of my soul like this.” Chakotay smiled at her, this loving smile, that she adored so much. “It’s not silly Kathryn. I think it’s a good and healthy way of coping with the situation. You should keep the letters in your quarters and read them whenever you get scared to be forgetting about them. And maybe you should continue writing these letters for the end of our journey.”   
Kathryn thought about his words and took another sip of the wine. “So, how is the crew? I know I have been very isolated the last days …and I miss them, too. My voyager family. Naomi came by this afternoon and brought me another of her artworks. She is such an angel.” Chakotay was happy beyond words that Kathryn seemed to be feeling better. He knew that the captain coming back to her old self would raise the crew’s morale immensely. “It was a quite uneventful day on the bridge today. Well apart from Harry and Tom obviously playing a new game where they try tricking Tuvok into saying certain phrases and words. And I guess the more absurd the more points they get…but I haven’t figured it out completely, yet. Otherwise, I think they all really miss their captain and feel immensely sorry for her loss.” Kathryn laughed and then smiled. “I know they do. I have been getting some lovely messages from some of the crew and even computer rations. They are a fine crew, I can count myself endlessly happy to have them. Every single one of them.” Saying the last sentence, she put all the love she felt into the look she gave the man sitting across from her. “And a new game, mh? Poor Tuvok, I bet he has no clue… I wonder if one can still join….after all I am Tuvok’s oldest friend on this ship and may know a button or two of his to press so to speak.” They both began to laugh. Hearing Kathryn’s unburdened laugh was one of the rarest and most beautiful sounds Chakotay could imagine and he relished every nanosecond. 

 

Kathryn knew she would never be able to fully get over the painful loss of her family but she also knew she was possibly the luckiest person in the whole galaxy because she had a second family and she would do anything in her power to protect them. The universe had taken a lot from her but also rewarded her multifariously. And one of her most precious gifts was sitting right across from her. Her rock. Her strength. Her peace. Her happiness. The love of her life.


End file.
